Swarm

Star Force, Book 1

By: B. V. Larson

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's summary

Earth arms marines with alien technology and builds its first battle fleet! Kyle Riggs is snatched by an alien spacecraft sometime after midnight. The ship is testing everyone it catches and murdering the weak. The good news is that Kyle keeps passing tests and staying alive. The bad news is the aliens who sent this ship are the nicest ones out there.

A novel of military science fiction by best-selling author B. V. Larson, Swarm is the story of Earth's annexation by an alien empire. Long considered a primitive people on a backwater planet, humanity finds itself in the middle of a war - and faced with extinction.

Battle stations! Listen to another Star Force novel.

©2010 B.V. Larson (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

My First Audio Book! Pretty Good.

Would you listen to Swarm again? Why?

I probably wouldn't listen to this story again. To be blunt, the writing isn't spectacular. The story is original, however, and the protagonist is likable. I'm quite interested to get the next installment and listen to that.

If you’ve listened to books by B. V. Larson before, how does this one compare?

I haven't had any previous exposure to BV Larson's work in any form.

What does Mark Boyett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mr. Boyett's voice and overall performance made this story work for me. He projected just the right balance of conviction and reserve to Kyle's voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Star Force: the Beginning.

Any additional comments?

I listened to this story while working out on the treadmill. I generally listened in 30-45 minute interval and It seemed like a perfect match for that activity.

a story about a father abducted by a spaceship

I already bought the next book to Hyatt what he does next. great read. betty enjoyable.

good story, a little side trackish at times.

voice actor is great. sorry is interesting but at times I felt like not caring about some parts.
I am going to finish the series. so I did enjoy book one.

Space Invaders With Thinking!

What did you love best about Swarm?

I enjoyed the main character actually using his brain and logic to figure things out throughout the book. A great, and sadly rare, characteristic in most sci-fi books.

What did you like best about this story?

The first person POV and that not everything after an initial loss was victory after victory. Realism was established.

Which character – as performed by Mark Boyett – was your favorite?

Kyle as the main character

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending was kind of an "oh crap" moment that you shared with the main character. Very fun.

Any additional comments?

This is what sci-fi is all about. Futuristic technology from a human perspective where the characters have to use their intellect to figure things out. And that's the strength of this book. Told from a first person POV, Kyle Riggs is abducted by an alien spacecraft and has to use his brain, with a little brawn, to figure out what is going on. Kyle isn't a super soldier, Buff McHardsteel guy but a computer programmer college professor. That is the strength he brings in to the story. It's enjoyable to see the character tackle a problem from different angles using his knowhow.

The plot reminded me a lot of Space Invaders if it was ever made into a movie/book. While there's not much new here, kind of just your standard alien invasion plot line, what is done with it is interesting. What's also interesting that I wish the book would have touched on a bit more was the creation of the new sovereign entity of Starforce in the view of world affairs. It reminded me a bit like John Ringo's "Under A Graveyard Sky" but not as in depth.

The story moves pretty quick and actually I would have liked to seen more problem solving from Kyle's POV. However, with like 13 books in the series there's probably more room there than in this single book. I will be picking up the next book. The ending was pretty impressive and felt realistic. Throughout the story, there are wins and losses that add realism to the story as well. It's not just loose battle A, change one thing, and win everything after that. Very well done in that regards.

I would recommend this for someone looking for a good alien invasion story. Final Grade - A

I'm hooked

nexted book I'm wasting time writing this trying to hurry and get the next book

eh...

too wordy. liked the narrator. finished the book, but no interest in the rest of the series

awesome

loved it!!! will definitely listen to it over and over again. I got 4 words left

Couldn't put it down

Any additional comments?

B.V. Larson continues to please. I started with the Undying Mercenaries series and liked it so I thought I'd give the Star Force series a try. I was pleasantly surprised that the character was very different then what I had come to expect. The fact that the main character was a techie/computer science type made him a little more realistic and down to earth for me.

I think one mistake made however was downplaying the emotional impact of early events on him - that would have put most people out of commission for a while, but he just set it aside and did what had to be done. I found that unbelievable and had to work to get passed that, but once I did, it was hard to put down. Larson likes his alien bad guys big and scary. You certainly feel the press of hopelessness as some of the battles unfold and surprises reveal themselves to the troopers. The tech is great. The twists were fun and exciting.

Mark Boyett continues to do great narration. I would be upset if B.V. Larson stopped using him.

Bottom line. This is good military sci-fi and I will be reading the rest of the Star Force series for sure. Highly recommended.

Close Encounter

If you could sum up Swarm in three words, what would they be?

Extremely good, easy to follow the action as it develops

What did you like best about this story?

It has sequels

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes but I am too old to stay awake that long

Nanite aliens

Nanite aliens are fun and all.

Story is pretty good, not really realistic of what would happen if this were to become reality. Takes you down a somewhat fantasy rabbit hole from the author.

Overall, a good listen.